Ilaian Thorne
Ilaian Olympia Thorne (b. August 4th, 11 A.D.P) was born to a small family of tradesmen, in a village in Elwynn Forest. Growing up in a very temperate household, she was taught from a very young age by her father in the way of the hunt, and how to master the forests that had surrounded them. Throughout her entire childhood, and up into her mid-teens, she had trained, getting better and better as days went on. She grew up into being a big provider for her family, and especially so when her father had disappeared in a hunting accident in the south, towards Stranglethorn. As the threat of the Legion loomed overhead, she had thought to herself that she needed to take action for the greater good of the land, and enlisted herself into the Silver Hand as a squire. Before long, her bow had been replaced with a sword, and her tanned leather with chain and plate as she began to train under Knight-Templar Alexandria Williams. As the fighting began to ramp up in Darkshore, and her training during the Battle of Stromgarde came to an end, she was knighted and inducted formally into the Silver Hand. Description Appearance Ilaian stands at five-foot-nine, and can most commonly be found in her standard issue armor, a light bronze-coloured armor. On top of that, her standard emblem is that of the Silver Hand, adding some much needed colour to the bronze and yellows that most of her armor makes up. Her eyes have a natural amber hue, which mix quite nicely with the dirty-blonde hair, loose strands falling down her face while the rest is pulled back into a high sitting ponytail. Obviously never seeing the horrors of war yet, any visible skin on Ilaian is unmarked. Her arms have gotten a bit stronger throughout her training, with a tad of definition visible, much more than months past. She carries herself with an air of confidence, and it’s hard to catch her without her signature smile, or at least a pleasant look on her face. Along the front of her armor, she carries a good deal of equipment on her person. A basic steel longsword sits in a sheathe over her back, while a dagger sits on her side. The dagger is very much a carry-over from her past as a hunter, and something that she's comfortable falling back on should things get much more hairy. Personality It’s very hard to break Ilaian’s good mood. With all of the bad happening in the world, and the general negative feeling throughout the city during the Third Invasion, she makes an attempt to be a bastion of happiness. She makes an effort to meet new people when she can, and greets them with a smile. Strategically, Ilaian thinks as if she was still an archer. Looking for the prime locations to strike, as well as staking out any encounter should she still have the opportunity. Any talk about hunting is also an excellent way to strike up a conversation with Ilaian, and make a friend. In terms of friends, she’s willing to give any a chance, as long as they are pleasant to her back! Her trust could prove to be a negative trait, however, as she can become too trusting of people that should be considered the opposite of that. Ambition is a large driving factor for Ilaian. Since enlisting, she likes to think of herself doing great things in the future, and that’s a big drive for her to do well in her training. History Early Years Into a small household in remote Elwynn, Ilaian was born as the first daughter to Arber and Bronwyn Thorne, a hunter and tailor respectively. Arber had been a proud and practiced tracker and hunter, bringing it most of the food for the household, while Bronwyn was a tailor, selling her goods around the small village, and throughout the town of Goldshire. For much of her young childhood, things were relatively uneventful, with both of her parents practicing their trades, and bringing in an income for the house in the aftermath of the Second War. When Ilaian was three years old, she was greeted with a new brother, Corin, which put an early strain on the household. Bronwyn had put a slight halt on her tailoring while the two children had grown up, doing her best to keep them both taken of, and educated as they grew up. By the time that Ilaian turned nine years old, her father made his first attempts to get her into his craft - the Art of the Hunt. Setting up some targets outside, there was a long stint of not many results, with Ilaian’s shots from the smaller bow barely hitting there they had been intended to go. Many day’s downtimes were used practicing on targets, which turned into Ilaian’s first ambition to chase after, even from such a young age. Over time, and many weeks of practice, Ilaian was finally bringing to hit her arrows on target, and where she had wanted for them to go. Throughout her childhood, she only visited Stormwind a multitude of times, mostly sticking to the area around her home, and Goldshire when they needed to buy goods. She had zero contact with the Light, or its practices, until the events of the Third War. Many people had left for the war from Goldshire, and upon their return, they were joined by many priests and clerics, which could be seen around town. This was her first exposure to the Light, as she was able to see the healing power that it held, and how the soldiers that were wounded were getting better, and better. That thought stayed on her mind for awhile, before falling dormant in favour of her improvements in hunting. Into her teens, her shot was getting much more precise, being able to hit her intended target from a further distance every time, and eventually, was taken on her first formal hunt with her father. It was something simple, as the pair located a deer quickly, though it was her father’s arrow that had taken it to the ground. Ilaian’s arrow was far too excited, and arced over the creature’s body. Still, that only led her into her next drive. More hunts led to increasing success, as Ilaian got towards her later teens, she was able to go out on her own, and come back with game she had gotten herself. It gave her a sense of pride, as she was finally able to give back to them with her own abilities. Ilaian’s brother had taken a much different path from Ilaian - as Ilaian grew into what her father had taught her, Corin had shown interest in the military, and began some basic training with soldiers in Goldshire. Almost none of the happenings in the world had affected Ilaian, save for the heightened tensions that shook the world during the time of Deathwing. With orcs piercing the area between Blackrock and Elwynn, and the constant threat of dragons overheard, Ilaian was hard-pressed to go out and hunt. Her father had faced the same decision, and had set off towards Stranglethorn Vale with a group of his hunting friends for a grand hunt. The target, Ilaian didn’t know, though they had taken off, and Ilaian braves the forest that she temporarily didn’t trust. Things went relatively fine, with the house being held down, until news had traveled back from the hunting party. Most people had returned, save for Ilaian’s father. She desperately wanted answers about what had happened, though no one that had departed could give a straight answer, mostly because no one knows what happened. Arber had simply disappeared, and the group had searched before ultimately returning. The fact that Ilaian doesn’t know what happened to him, and if he’s dead or not being unknown, became a big driving factor for her success into the future. Stepping Up In the wake of Arber’s disappearance, Ilaian had now become the main provider for her family, and did her best to hunt as much as possible. The meat was used for her family, with any excess, alongside the pelts being taken into Goldshire to be sold. The fact that she was still doing good in his absence just made her happy, as she eagerly awaited his return. She’s still holding out on that thought that he simply got lost, and is somewhere else until he can finally make the trek back into Elwynn to find them all. Ilaian’s mother was also able to get back to her tailoring, which aided in making the home more stable. In an effort to find new work, she had heard word of a trading company in Stormwind City proper that had use for a courier, and with her knowledge of the local land, she figured that it would be a good position for her. The work was simple, at first, with her delivering goods throughout the city, and throughout Elwynn and the surrounding area. Her other position within the company was dealing with the finances, which she was able to do well enough - she was educated in her home, and was able to read and write fluently. Things had gotten weird, and Ilaian had a bad feeling as time went on that things weren’t as they seemed in the company, such as the money not adding up as she did work, or the nature of the jobs she was given being with little to no information. She was delivering things to people that seemed less-than-ideal, and kept away from the books more and more as time had gone on. Being big red flags for Ilaian, she had left the company before long, leaving that as a part of her past and doing her best to move on. Of course, she couldn’t explain what had been happening, and she just had done what she thought was best for herself. Higher Calling Following her departure from the trading company, Ilaian found herself doing what she did best, rather than acting as a messenger. She returned to Elwynn quickly, getting back to aiding her family before the news brought out, quickly spreading throughout the land. The Legion had returned, coming back and striking hard at Azeroth. Even if she hadn’t heard, it was impossible to ignore the assaults that were hitting the land, as close to her home as Westfall. If she remained idle, that’s one less person doing their part is how she thought, and it wasn’t long before she had set off for Stormwind in an effort to enlist. She had to fight her mother’s desire to keep her back at home, for her daughter’s safety, though Ilaian was adamant that she needed to do this. The Silver Hand had consolidated itself into a larger organization of all Paladin orders, and it wasn’t long before Ilaian found herself enlisting to their organization. Before long, Ilaian had found herself getting into a new lifestyle, and had been assigned to the then-Knight Alexandria Williams. The two had met in the town of Thelsamar formally, where the news was delivered that Ilaian would be training under her. In this location, Ilaian was also introduced to Merellia Hallewell, a former Crusader and current priestess for the Church of the Holy Light. They had been assigned to Thelsamar to deal with a threat involving the Twilight Hammer, this in turn becoming Ilaian’s first ever experience in true combat. Even then, she didn’t see many battles. The pair of Ilaian and Alexandria had been assigned on patrolling missions, alongside a mission infiltrating the Highlands proper. It was hard to seperate Ilaian from her bow, even after enlisting, which Ilaian took along with her for this trip. She also stuck to it, favouring it over the longsword she was given. Overall, the deployment had been a success, with the pair heading back to Stormwind soon after the threat had been dealt with. Now, it was the time for her to begin her training. When they had arrived back in Stormwind, many days were spent with Alexandria educating Ilaian in the tenets of the Light, as well as Ilaian getting her first taste of melee combat training. In the beginning, it took Ilaian quite awhile to get used to it, and it was evident as Alexandria was easily able to deal with Ilaian’s strikes. Her ambition broke out again even when Alex wasn’t around to train with her, as she could frequently be seen working on the target dummies, and making sure that she could confidently swing where she intended. First Test As the summer months began to come around, and as the years always bring around, a tournament was being held in the north, for all to come and test their skill in the joust. It didn’t take too long for the trio of Ilaian, Merellia, and Alexandria to make their way north, boarding a ship, and beginning to make their way north towards Northrend. This was the first time that Ilaian had ever visited the north, and she was certainly eager to see it. She had only heard about the atrocities that happened there, while she had remained back in Elwynn throughout that time. Still, the journey through the land proved to be something nice for Ilaian, being able to see much of the unruined land. Adventuring through Dragonblight was the first time that Ilaian had issues on the trip, and is easily the coldest that she ever felt in her life. She held fast to the notion that they would arrive to the tournament soon, and indeed, the hellish cold was over soon as they reached the base of the Storm Peaks. The weather still kept the area cold, though the mountains gave amazing cover from the wind. It wasn’t long before they had reached the tournament, which Ilaian took well to. They made an effort to arrive early, and in which Ilaian spent close to a week training with Alexandria. Ilaian had never jousted prior to this instance, and she spent a good deal with her time training as best she could. Getting the lance balanced, for instance, was a big thing to get herself adjusted to. Still, she was determined to get used to this before she needed to test herself, and used up most of her days to get better, and better. When the tournament had finally come around, Ilaian had found herself having great luck. The first three opponents, she had been able to take down, before finally she was faced with her own knight, Alexandria. Alexandria didn’t take it easy on Ilaian, with the joust going in Alexandria’s favour. In the revelry that followed her victory, Alex had redirected all of the glory onto Ilaian, citing that she was an up-and-coming knight of the Silver Hand. For the first time, all of the attention was focused on Ilaian, and that was a bit overwhelming for her, as nice as it was. Over the tournament, Alexandria had recalled the horrors that she had faced when she was last here, being involved in the attack against Icecrown Citadel. She had told Ilaian about storming the gates, and how she was caught on the ground at one of the gates when the undead had gone mad attacking all without seemingly any order. Just as she was getting pinned down, the undead had broke away, with Alex not knowing why it had happened. She also touched on how her husband had perished in the attack, Ilaian simultaneously feeling good and bad that she was talking about it. Bad that she recounted the events of that day, and good that Alex was even able to talk about it. Bedrest and Downtime and Mages, Oh My! As they returned to the Eastern Kingdoms, they entered into a period of downtime. For Ilaian, it was a blessing. They had simply returned into a standard life of training, and living within the city. Ilaian spent a good deal of time training by herself, or with Alexandria, while she worked alongside Merellia in an effort to get better with learning, and wielding the Light. At the current moment, she wasn’t able to use it at all, but she was getting better at learning about what it meant to use it. Ilaian also had found herself visiting Light’s Hope Chapel more, where she was able to simply talk to other paladins, and that was a big help for her. She likes talking to people, so the wide diversity that she was able to meet was a very positive experience. This peacetime was unfortunately interrupted as Alexandria was put back into active duty, and was sent to the Broken Shore. Ilaian was left in Stormwind to train, only waiting for news on what was happening on the front. It was also in this time that Ilaian was assigned to train alongside Gerhan Vallin, a stalwart knight of the Silver Hand, in Alex’s absence. This work had her working up in the Hillsbrad Foothills, in a carved out bunker filled with all sorts of magical marvels and creations, owned by Magetank Industries. This was something pretty new for Ilaian - not only was she training to become a knight, she’s now surrounded by many different people, notably a few mages, and demon hunters. Most of her work was embarking on adventures through the Foothills, from things such as dealing with bandits, to undead attempting to attack the bunker, to simply going out onto the field to scout. The work wasn’t anything that she couldn’t handle, and she was able to do all that she could. Another big advantage of working so far north was that she had easier access to Light’s Hope, and was making visits as much as she could in the hopes that Alexandria would be around. Tragedy had hit on the Broken Shore, almost being the worst thing that she could imagine that happened to Alexandria. While in combat, Alex had been slammed by an infernal, knocking out of the combat for that campaign. She had been taken to Dalaran, Ilaian receiving the news, and quickly hurrying to find Merellia before taking her to where Alex was being tended to. Alexandria was alive and stable, though thoroughly injured. Ilaian remained in Dalaran, at her side, making sure that she did anything that her knight had requested while out of commission. New Surroundings For the many months following the injury of Alexandria, Ilaian found herself residing primarily in Stormwind, back at her home in Elwynn, or north in Light's Hope Chapel where she could receive teaching. It was in this time period that Ilaian had began to focus on what she wanted to get from her training and knighting, and began to work in the Stormwind Cathedral mending those that were injured in the war. The menders in Dalaran could give Alexandria far better treatment than she could, and Ilaian had to come to terms with that. For this period, and for what became the rest of Ilaian's journey as a squire, she found herself training under Hildira Phillips, another knight of the Silver Hand. Being able to continue her training in Stormwind was something that Ilaian was greatly happy over, despite the circumstances that put her there - being able to work on her homefront was something she found easier than the field. For the remainder of the campaign against the Legion, that's all that fell before Ilaian, mending, and training her martial skills alongside Hildira. Both of those also came with practical training, Ilaian learning further about the Light, and the virtues that she must represent through her journey. Compassion was the one that most came through for her while she was training, innately having that aspect, and being able to show it those that needed it. With the Legion campaign coming to a close, things had been looking better in Ilaian's eyes. There were less casualties coming back to Stormwind, and the morale had seemed much higher overall. Unfortunately, that little small break in the action would be cut short, Ilaian learning from her good friend Solelin Shadebough that she had been called to the frontline to fight in Darkshore, against the now-invading Horde. Without much time to give a goodbye, Solelin had gone off to the war beyond, and there entered a lull in much news. There was whispering about what happened across the sea, eating at Ilaian's insides as the uncertainty of Solelin's fate only seeked to grow her anxiety. Atrocity The fate of Teldrassil and Darkshore was made known to Ilaian as the night elves began to flood out of the Stormwind Keep and down towards the streets and the Cathedral. Working from inside there, she had helped receive the large influx of civilians and soldiers alike, and make sure that things could be stabilized. The jarring thing for Ilaian was that she hadn't counted Solelin among them, and it was only after one of Solelin's elder sisters had come to find her that she knew her fate. Solelin was indeed alive, a burst of knowledge being gifted to her sister through Elune. That was enough to get Ilaian into gear, rushing to collect what gear she would need for the journey, and with that, the pair of Ilaian and Alania Shadebough took off for Darkshore. Getting into a situation such as this one was something that Ilaian knew was extremely dangerous, but getting back a close friend was what made it worth it for her. As the pair arrived in Darkshore, it wasn't anything like she had expected. The forests had been all but destroyed, smoldering heaps of logs and houses scattered the landscape, while the slow-burning corpse of Teldrassil rested in the sea, taking countless down with it. The journey through the forest wasn't pleasant, but it was something that had to be done as Alania led Ilaian towards where Elune had shown Solelin to be. Cutting through what remained of bushes and cover, it took longer than Ilaian would've liked to reach the second-over destroyed Auberdine. This is where they were shown, and the pair drew over towards where the Shadeboughs had been brought up, a house that looked much more damaged than Ilaian had remembered. It was there that Ilaian found Solelin, hiding underneath the home against the dirt, and simply broken. Ilaian had always known her as the battle-hardened and impenetrable kaldorei, but here, it was anything but that. Even coaxing Solelin out from underneath the house was a task, the pair having to convince Solelin that they weren't simply illusions there to taunt her of what happened. Call to Arms With Solelin being secured and taken back towards Elwynn, time was needed for Ilaian away from training and war, as a small amount of time was given to her to take care of Solelin. The mental scarring of what happened was Ilaian's main priority for Solelin, and keeping her far from where the Horde could plague her mind. Little did she know how damaged she had been after the fighting, but she still tried to give as much back to Solelin as possible. Only once Solelin had been able to do a little bit more for herself did she report back to Hildira, where she learned about the next battle and her deployment. While Ilaian hadn't been expected on the frontline of Stromgarde, that was her station for the forseeable future to train and do what she can. Her tasks once they landed were similar to what she had been told to do before - hone her skills, and tend to those that needed it. Working directly on the frontline was Ilaian's first exposure to the sheer amount of injury that have to get treated in such an environment, being worked sun up to sun down on those that came back from battling against the Horde. Much of Ilaian's time there was spent doing that, and following the directive of Hildira on what she can do. It was also at Stromgarde that Ilaian's first set of armor was completed, graduating from her squire armor from before and going up to plate. While it took a good amount of time for things to get adjusted, now it's something that she can easily handle. (( Work in progress! ))Category:Characters Category:Human Category:Stormwindian Category:Paladins